Electric Ninja

Last night we finally dropped the motor at 3am. We sold it to a guy down in Tacoma who wants to put it in a small dune-buggy. The pictures are up in the photo gallery.

I've been working with Dave Kois as a summer intern this last month. They're all really great guys down there and they have been helping out getting the conversion going. Dave Kois runs the show in Lacey and he's been extremely helpful getting parts at cost for me. Thanks Dave! I'm planning on picking up a Warp 8 from work tomorrow and getting an idea of how it will fit.

Oh and just last weekend Alex and me went to the Wayland invitational and saw a few Teslas, the Killacycle and the White Zombie. I'll post some pictures soon.

-Rich

Sorry for not updating the site for so long. (I know we have a lot of fans out there). hah.

After a few hours of frustration, trying to figure out what the vibrations were coming from. We got  the motorcycle running smoothly when my uncle Rocky helped me out over the phone. He told me to use a screwdriver and put the handle on my ear while touching the metal end to the bike frame while the engine was running. The homemade stethoscope worked like a charm and we found that the vibrations were coming from one of the down tubes. At one end of the down tube, two bolts held the tube in place. One of them was missing and the other was too long. When the end of the down tube was held in place, the vibrations stopped.

Alex and I were both surprised because the sound seems to emanate from the front of the bike, but the loose part was towards the rear.

Update: We're not sure if we want to use an AC motor anymore. A large DC outperforms AC and  still costs less.

We got a little time to work on it over the weekend so we cleaned and flushed the fuel pump and new gas tank and connected all the hoses back up and gave her a shot. After a few attempts the motor roared to life. There is likely a loose piece somewhere making that vibrating noise that comes and goes when you lean the bike side to side and the throttle cables are probably crushed somewhere making smooth revving difficult, but we are happy that the bike runs.

So we ordered a new wiring harness and experimented over spring break. After switching out the fuse box and starter relay, we were finally able to get the starter to work. Next week we'll put gas in the tank and hope she starts. Here is a diagram of what was replaced.